The discussion came after White’s harsh critique of Silva’s UFC 97 title defense over Thales Leites. Calling it, among other things, “embarrassing” and after issuing an apology to fight fans, White said Silva’s five-round unanimous-decision win could simply be a byproduct of the Brazilian fighter’s remarkable power and standup game.

“I don’t think that opponents don’t want to engage him,” White said. “I think they have a gameplan when they go in there, and they start getting kicked and hit. We’ve seen what this guy does with a kick and punch. Guys spin around when he leg kicks them. He’s powerful. He’s fast. He’s elusive. He has all the tools. When he lets them go, people fall down. … Game plans change quickly.”

So how do you fix the problem? After all, some of the top contenders to challenge for Silva’s title aren’t necessarily going to push the pace and stand and bang with Silva. Undefeated Demian Maia is much like Leites (though he’s more aggressive with his submissions and when trying to pull guard), and Yushin Okami is effective but often unspectacular when he grinds out decision wins with conservative game plans.

Perhaps Silva’s next challenge will come at 205 pounds. Silva jumped to the weight class once before (to defeat James Irvin in spectacular fashion in 2008), and White isn’t opposed to “The Spider” doing it again.

“I honestly think Anderson Silva needs to challenge himself a little more,” White said. “Maybe we need to do another fight at 205 (pounds). Maybe we go to 205 (pounds) and do a fight [with] somebody who poses a serious threat to him.”

While a light-heavyweight bout could be in Silva’s immediate future, a mega-fight at 185 pounds may not be too far off – especially if Toronto warms up to MMA regulation.

“I’m focused on Toronto now,” White said. “I want to do a big event in Toronto. And who knows? Like I said, I don’t like to look past guys. Everybody who fights in the UFC is tough. (But) if Georges St. Pierre could get through Thiago Alves, who knows? Maybe we do Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre in Toronto.”

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported last week, the UFC is committed to doing shows in Boston, New York City and Toronto by early next year. The UFC has visited Canada twice now, for UFC 83 and UFC 97, and they’re the two most highest attended events in North American MMA history and both rank among the UFC’s top-five gates of all time. UFC 97 set a record with 21,451 attendees, and White thinks Toronto could set a new record north of 30,000.

But the UFC’s head honcho was quick to issue a disclaimer about Silva vs. St. Pierre. And he issued it multiple times. Because when it comes to Alves, St. Pierre’s next opponent (and a top contender who’s 9-1 in his past 10 fights with seven knockouts), White thinks St. Pierre may face his toughest test yet.

If St. Pierre loses at UFC 100, Silva vs. St. Pierre probably becomes dead in the water.

“Do not overlook Thiago Alves,” White said. “This guy is mean and nasty, and that’s going to be a very, very hard fight for him. Georges St. Pierre can’t start looking at Anderson Silva until he gets past Thiago Alves.

“Really, listen to me, guys. Alves is a very, very tough kid. Don’t overlook him. … I don’t want to concentrate on Silva (vs.) St. Pierre until he can prove he can get by Alves.”

For all his dominance – Silva set a UFC record with nine straight victories and tied a record with his fifth consecutive title defense with the win over Leites – the Portugese-speaking fighter has yet to prove a real pay-per-view draw. St. Pierre, on the other hand, is PPV and box-office gold, and a fight with Silva could seriously challenge UFC 66’s record of 1.05 million reported PPV buys.

White, speaking just an hour after Canadian fans filled Montreal’s Bell Centre with “GSP! GSP” chants during the Silva vs. Leites fight, is well aware of the interest.

“I like the fight as much as anyone,” he said.

Dann Stupp is founder and editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com. He is also the MMA beat writer for the Dayton Daily News.

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